Rostrevor staff end sit-in over wages

A SIT-IN over pay by staff at the Dublin nursing home shut down in the wake of serious abuse allegations this month ended last night after the employers agreed to pay them their full entitlements.

The staff at the Rostrevor nursing home had begun the protest in an attempt to secure wages they claimed had not been paid to them.

In a statement issued earlier in the evening through the Migrants Rights Centre, the employees said they had approached the owners at 1pm yesterday seeking their entitlements but the monies had not been forthcoming.

“We have asked our employer to provide us with our rights and entitlements according to the law, including payment of our redundancy, but they have not done so,” they said.

“We have asked for a signed agreement that our employer will give us our rights. We feel that if we leave here we have no guarantee of payment.”

However, the sit-in ended at 9pm when the employers signed a statement confirming all entitlements to be paid.

The home was shut earlier this month after the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) secured an interim court order canceling the Rathgar operation’s registration.

The court heard allegations that a male care assistant beat, kicked and abused residents since mid-2008.

The owners have claimed that the allegations are unfounded.

Yesterday evening, one of the directors of Rostrevor, Sarah Lipsett, was not available for comment at the home.

However, Rostrevor’s owners have reported that the accused individual says the whistle-blowing workers have a “personal vendetta”.

The decision was made to transfer the residents in Rostrevor to other facilities and close the home. The last resident left yesterday.

In yesterday’s statement, the staff criticised their treatment by HIQA and the Department of Health in spite of the fact they had provided information about the abusive staff member.

“Despite assurances from HIQA that we would be looked after and protected, we have all lost our jobs,” the staff said in their statement. “We are all devastated by this and very anxious and worried about the future for ourselves and our own families.

“We feel that we are being punished for putting the care and well-being of the residents in our care first and penalised for the behaviour of other people.”

The former workers said several of them held work permits.

“It will be additionally difficult to get another permit in place and secure another job,” they said. “We may become undocumented or be forced to leave Ireland altogether.

“Unfortunately, the message that this will send out to care workers and others is that, if you report abuse, you and other innocent work colleagues will lose their job and your professional reputation may be ruined, as has happened to us. This is not right. It will discourage people from reporting and uncovering abuses.”